Friday, April 16, 2010

Going A-Mothering - Postcard Friendship Friday #7

I've always wondered about the history of Mother's Day. I came across this rather sad, yet charming explanation.

Back in the Middle Ages in Europe, children as young as eight or nine would leave home to learn their trade as an apprentice or to become servants in the homes of wealthy people. These children usually were in neighboring towns, but transportation was hard to come by and expensive.

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For most of the year the kids did not get to see their families. During Lent, before preparations for the Easter feasts required them to be busy and back at work, the young people would be allowed to return to their homes and families for a weekend. This became known as "going a-Mothering." In the United Kingdom this is known as Mothering Sunday!

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Above is the back of this beautiful Mother's Day Post Card. Happy PFF!!

DADDY UPDATE: Dad's appointment with the neck brace folks was disappointing. The brace they had did not fit. There's another they want to try. If that doesn't work, the VA will make another appointment to fit a custom brace. After that, the only option is a risky surgery. Without surgery the muscles in his neck will continue to weaken which, because of broken bones in his neck, is extremely dangerous. Eventually except for the brace, his head would flop to one side. This is a very scary time for my family. We would appreciate your prayers for Dad and for our family.

Beautiful card! That's why Mothering Sunday is always changing date, the 4th Sunday in Lent. It causes great confusion in our family because my sons live in France, where it is a different date again. Is it soon in the US?

Mothering Sunday has already been and gone in the UK this year. My daughter made a lovely card for my wife and hid it in her room ... unfortunately we've still not managed to find it. I'm sure it will turn up one day

Lovely rose. We have had Mothering Sunday in the UK. It is derived from the custom of visiting your mother church on that day (mid lent Sunday) but as you say it was given as a holiday and then children could come home. A bunch of violets is emblematic of this day but your rose is appropriate for I believe the pope used to bless a golden rose.Hope your Dad finds comfort and healing with his new brace.

Crunchy Hearts

The title of my blog, "The Best Hearts are Crunchy," comes from a comment made years ago by a five-year old girl, as she thoughtfully perused a tempting box of Valentine's Day candies. She is probably a grown mother by now, with children of her own. I loved what she said so much, I wrote it down on a napkin.

Vintage Postcard

Going for a Ride

MY "CYBER" POSTCARD COLLECTION

Over the years, I have gathered together a large "cyber" collection which I often refer to for Postcard Friendship Friday and Guest Heart Thursday.

I don't always remember where they came from, so if any of these wonderful postcards, cards, or other ephemera came from your site, let me know and I will add a link to your blog.

Copyright information can be found at the bottom of this page.

Hearts and Flowers

I have collected vintage cards, fairytale books, postcards, old photos and art pieces since I was a small girl.

Even before I could read, I spent hours looking at old cards, coloring books and illustrations in my fairytale story books. I am sure my love for art and even my own drawing stylings came from my fascination with them.

Mail was so rare, I saved every card and letter I received as a child. Some of those nostalgic items will be shared on this blog.

Quite a few of the vintage pieces I have collected reflect the life and times of history itself. The cards, postcards, antique photos and art from my collection are dated from the late 1800's, through WW2. Many of these old cards come from our darling little Grandmother Jenny. I have also included some items from the early 1950's which were given to me by my precious Gramma Gladys and dearest Nita.

In a very real way, this Blog is my way of honoring these marvelous inspiring artists and the ongoing influence they've had in my life.

I hope you will enjoy the beauty, tremendous skill and sometimes whimsical work of these long-gone artists as much as I have over the years.

Followers

Copyright Questions

Artwork including cards, postcards, illustrations, etc., printed before 1930 are no longer copyrighted, but are under Public Domain. However even then, there are lots of gray areas concerning what is Public Domain and what is not.

Scans of public domain images do not generate new copyrights—they merely inherit the copyright status of the image being reproduced. In other words, if something is public domain and is scanned--it remains in the public domain.See Bridgeman v. Corel.

An individual can claim copyright over a piece of public domain artwork ONLY if it has been uniquely altered in some fashion.

If you have further questions concerning copyright law, here are somehelpful links:[link][link][link]